Grog-fuelled hospital emergency numbers surge

By Danielle Parry and Jane BardonUpdated
Fri Apr 26 09:56:31 EST 2013

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Leaked data from the Alice Springs Hospital shows the proportion of emergency patients presenting with alcohol-related problems doubled in the five months after the Banned Drinker Register was scrapped.

The unofficial presentation figures were collated by concerned hospital staff.

Dr John Boffa from the People's Alcohol Action Coalition admits more detailed research is needed.

However, he says the data does not reflect well on the new Government's alcohol policy decisions.

"It really does suggest that the new Government came to power, got rid of something that was working and it created an extra burden of work on the hospital, but more significantly, have created extra harm in the community," he said.

"I think any government has to adopt the Hippocratic oath of the medical profession, which is first do no harm."

Dr Peter Beaumont from the Australian Medical Association says the data was passed on to Health Minister Robyn Lambley three weeks ago.

"Our members in Alice Springs noticed increases," he said.

"They actually went back and counted those increases and I think that they are figures that need to be looked at and looked into and that's the reason why I reported them to Minister Lambley."

Dr Beaumont says doctors at Royal Darwin are not reporting the same presentation increases as those in Alice Springs.

"They don't have any figures that they've taken out but they are firmly of the opinion there is no increase and, in fact, there has been ongoing reduction in the number of alcohol-related admissions to Royal Darwin's emergency department," he said.

Professor Tanya Chikritzhs from the National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University says the results are not definitive but they are a red flag that warrants further analysis.

"It's showing a large effect," she said.

"You wouldn't expect that size effect just from chance alone, so it's certainly pointing to something going on that would suggest that there's been an impact but it needs to be looked at more closely."

'A message'

Ms Lambley says the data's validity has not been tested but her department expects to start official reporting on alcohol-related emergency presentations in the next financial year.

She says some of the increase could be due to the scrapping of the register but also because police are bringing more drunks to hospital instead of the watch house.

"But we also know that a major contributing factor has been the effect of a death in custody in the Alice Springs watch house several months ago and the recommendation of the coroner's inquest into that case has led to many more people being taken directly to the emergency department of the Alice Springs Hospital," she said.

Ms Lambley says she will ask the Department of Health to collect its own data for public release.

"For hospital staff to independently feel that they have to sit down and collate these figures as inaccurately or accurately as they can really sends a message to me that those people are concerned about the problem and they think that by doing this it's going to improve the situation but I'd like to see the health department providing those figures," she said.